


Stark's Moving Castle

by Wayward_Daughter



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Domestic Avengers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-09
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-11-28 16:13:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/676345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wayward_Daughter/pseuds/Wayward_Daughter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When an unconfident young man is cursed with an frail body by a spiteful wizard, his only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent Tony Stark and his companions in his legged, walking home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Steve, we’ve just closed up. You’ve done enough work today, why don’t you come out with us this time?” Jim asked in the doorway. 

Steve was a hard-working young man who helped make uniforms for the military. “No I’d better finish this. You guys go and have fun. I might catch up later.” Right now he was working on a new design that Mr. Phillips wanted, which Steve was trying to make look as not-ridiculous as possible, without straying too far from the original design.

“Alright, suit yourself.” Jim said as he beckoned the rest of the boys out the front door until a women sweeping the floor pointed outside “Look! It’s Stark’s castle!” 

Steve looked out the window to see a chimney top disappearing from view while all the people in the shop did the same.

Mr. Phillips wanted to make sure the new uniform was as efficient and comfortable as possible, so, even after protest, Steve was wearing it out the door. Not as many people as he figured we’re staring at him despite the fact he was basically wrapped in a flag. Maybe they were too busy throwing confetti and waving their hats at the soldiers coming through town. He took a shortcut through an alley to avoid all the madness. Steve looked up from his little slip of paper with the directions to the factory his brother worked in to hear snickering coming from two men in uniform standing in front of him. 

“Nice boots, tinker bell.” one of them said. Steve knew better to just ignore them. To think he actually admired soldiers enough to want to be one all his life. But by the time he got big enough to actually join the army, he was already set in life as the suit maker, but he did make soldier’s uniforms part-time, so close enough. They thwarted his exit and blocked the way out. 

“Leave me alone.” Steve demanded.

“There you are I was looking all over for you.” Steve turned to find a red and gold metal man standing behind him. 

“We were just—” the metal man cut them off “Just leaving.” he said, holding up a hand that had a glowing blue circle, getting brighter and brighter, whirring like a gun. After weighing their options, they made the right decision and took off running. Steve stood, confused and awestruck. The golden faceplate flipped up to reveal a man inside “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to scare you.” he smiled.

“You’re Tony Stark!” he stated obviously.

“Indeed I am.” Tony shrugged’ walking (well, clanking) toward him “So where you headed?” “Um…” Steve dug back in his pocket to fish out the slip of paper and showed it to Tony. “I know where that is!” the iron man smiled “Hold on tight!”

Before Steve knew it, he was I the air, hanging on to Tony’s hands for dear life. The same blue from his hands was in his feet, blasting them through the air, less violently than it seemed. “See? Not so bad, is it?” Tony grinned. Steve couldn’t believe it. He was flying. In mere seconds he was at the balcony of the factory where his brother worked.

“Steve!”

“Bucky” Steve noticed him half-dazed.

“What’s going on? Someone just said you floated down onto our balcony.”

“…So that did happen. It wasn’t a dream.” his gave drifted to his feet.

The two sat in the back storage room on a large crate while Steve explained what happened.

“Wow. The rumors are true; he must be a wizard then! I knew it!”

“I’m not sure if he was a wizard, but he was really kind to me.”

“You can’t trust a wizard, Steve. He was probably gonna rip your soul out or something. You’ve gotta be careful. If he really was Stark, like you said, then he could’ve stolen your heart.”

Steve playfully nudged Bucky with his elbow “He only does that with the dames and you know it.”

Bucky chuckled. That low hearty laugh that only Bucky could make “So what’s with the star spangly getup?” Bucky smiled around a cigar he put in his mouth.

Steve grinned and looked down at himself “Ya’know, it’s kinda growing on me.” he stood and stretched out his arms to hug his brother “Alright, I’d better get going. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”

By the time Steve had finished inventory, it had already gotten dark. He was just putting the last box away when he heard the front door open and shut. “I could’ve sworn I locked that door…” he mumbled. A bald burly man in a semi-expensive-looking suit released his grip from the rusty door handle. He had a grey-brown beard and a vein popping out of his head, but a smile on his face.

“I’m sorry, sir, we’re closed.” Steve began.

“What a tacky little shop.” the stranger glared “And you’re by far the tackiest thing here.”

Steve glared right back, but trying his best to maintain his manners “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave now.” He walked, almost stomped, to the front door and opened it “The door’s over here, sir; we’re closed.” he stated firmly.

“You’ve got guts, kid; standing up to the Wizard of the Waste.”

Steve gasped, the shot at him full speed and passed through him like a ghost. Steve felt weak, and fell to his knees.

“The funny thing about that curse” the man bragged “is that you can’t tell anyone about it. My regards to Tony.” And as swiftly as he came, he left.

Steve finally forced himself to his feet. He felt lightheaded and out of breath. And the room seemed to have gotten bigger. He wandered around the room disoriented for a minute, until he found his way to a mirror. He was at least half the size he was before, his arms were the size of twigs, and his shoulders looked like they were made of glass. A frail face with almost no jaw line stared back at him.


	2. Chapter 2

“I just have to stay calm…just stay calm. There’s no use panicking; you’ll be fine. It’s just a bad dream, that’s all” he stuttered, trying to reassure himself.

“Steve?” Mr. Erskine called the next morning. Mr. Erskine was sort of a guardian for Steve and Bucky, some might even say he was a father figure.

“Don’t come in here!” Steve called from underneath his sheets “I’ve got a bad cold; I don’t want you to catch it!”

“You sound ghastly. Like some 90 lb asthmatic.”

“I’ll just stay in bed all day, so you go ahead and go.”

“If you insist.” Steve could hear his footsteps go back down the stairs. He dragged himself out of bed and checked himself one more time in the mirror, tempted to pinch himself. “Well, this isn’t so bad.” he told himself after a while “And your shirt finally fits you…sort of.”

He packed a lunch for the trip he decided on into The Waste and ended up hitching a ride on a hay truck when he got out of breath. “It’s crazy if you do this;” the driver had told him “there’s nothing but witches and wizards out there.” He told the man and his wife that he was going to go look for his older brother, so of course they let him go.

He had to stop again on a hilltop next to his hometown “I’ll never get there with this body.” A stick jetting out from a bush a few feet away caught his attention “That could help.” It was stubborn, but Steve finally got the darn thing out and was startled to meet the scarecrow on the other end. “How are you standing on your own like that?” Steve wondered aloud. He couldn’t help but stare “You’re head’s a turnip. I’ve always hated turnips ever since I was a kid. But at least you’re not upside down now. So long.” He waved off the scarecrow and started back up the hill.

“I can still see the town; I’ve barely moved.” Steve huffed, turning around. Something caught his eye: the scarecrow was bounding his way up the hill straight for him. “No, stop following me! You don’t owe me a thing; no need to thank me! You obviously have some sort of spell on you and I’ve had more than enough of wizards and spells! So why don’t you just go find a field and stand in it?” It paused for a minute and then got closer and dropped a cane on the ground next to Steve’s feet. It was made of sturdy wood and the handle was in the shape of an eagle’s head. “Thank you, that’s just what I needed!” Steve smiled. “If you want to do me one more favor, could you run off and find me a place to stay?” As it bounced away Steve chuckled to himself “That got rid of him.”

As night fell, Steve was absolutely exhausted, cold and more than a little hungry. And he couldn’t shake the thought that he caught the scent of smoke. Suddenly the ground started to rumble and Stark’s Castle came climbing up the terrain with the scarecrow behind it. The giant lumbering chunk of metal walked right over Steve, even as he tried to make a break for it. A stairway to a door hung off the bottom, close enough to the ground for Steve to grab onto the railing and haul himself up. He opened the creaky door and could barely see past the first few steps inside. He turned around to wave to the scarecrow getting farther and farther away from the speeding castle “It was nice meeting you! Take care, Turnip-Head!” and he shut the door behind him.

Steve found himself a chair in front of the open fireplace and made himself easily comfortable. He sighed heavily and held his hands out to the flame. “When someone says ‘castle’ this isn’t exactly what I’d picture.” Steve started to slip slowly into sleep until “I don’t envy you.” Steve jolted in his chair “Huh?!” He was speaking to…the flame?

“Curses are tough; you’re going to have a hard time getting rid of that one. Let me guess, the curse won’t allow you to talk about it, right?”

“…The fireplace is talking.”

“Not the ‘fireplace’ exactly. I’m a fire demon named Jarvis.”

A demon, huh? He didn’t look much like a demon. “You know about curses?”

“A little.”

He felt a little awkward talking to a ball of fire, but hey isn’t everything else about this a little nuts? “Do you…do you think you could break mine?”

“Maybe, maybe not; look, if you can find a way to break the spell that’s on me I’ll break the spell that’s on you. Got it?”

Steve paused for a moment “Alright…it’s a deal…”he yawned and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Steve woke up the next morning to a banging at the door. After hearing footsteps, he pretended to go back to sleep and caught a glimpse of a little boy running down the stairs “Who’s the skinny guy?” he asked. “I don’t know” the flame answered “he fell asleep before I got his name.”

“Stand by!” the child said in a false deep voice, pulling a disguise cloak over his face and opening the front door.

Steve was a little too busy trying to work out the kink in his neck to hear what the little boy and the man at the door were talking about.

“Who was that, Peter?” Jarvis asked. Peter placed a sealed envelope on the table in the kitchen area “Someone from the palace asking for the Iron Man to help with the war. The king wants all available witches and wizards for assistance. Where did he come from?”

“He just turned up while we were passing through The Waste.”

“The Waste, huh? How do we know he’s not a wizard?”

“Do you really think I would’ve let him in here if that were the case?”

Peter made his way to a loaf of bread and a wedge of cheese on the kitchen counter “I need some breakfast; I’m starved.”

Steve took a closer look at the rest of the food on the counter that were either underneath with a hand towel or a metal catering cover “Wouldn’t you rather have some bacon and eggs?”

“Yeah but we can’t use the fire; Master Stark’s not here.”

Steve put a few slices of bacon into the egg basket and grabbed an iron frying pan from the wall “Don’t worry; I can cook.”

“It doesn’t matter if you can cook. Jarvis only listens to Master Stark.”

Steve rolled up his sleeves “Alright, Jarvis, let’s get cooking.”

“I don’t cook!” Jarvis shouted, almost offended “I’m a scary and powerful fire demon!” His attempts at frighteningly spewing fire ended up looking more adorable and amusing than anything.

“How about I tell Mr. Stark about our little deal?” he grinned mischievously.

“I never should’ve let him in here!” Jarvis protested while Steve pushed the pan down onto the flame and let the bacon and eggs sizzle.

“Jarvis is doing what he says…” Peter marveled. Suddenly the door creaked open and a drained and exhausted Tony holding a red and gold briefcase sauntered inside. He stopped and stared at the surprisingly obedient Jarvis and the stranger in his house “And you are…?”

“Oh, uh Steve Rogers.”

“Where are you from, Steve?”

He looked down at the now-ready breakfast in the pan with a pensive face “…Nowhere.”

Tony paused and then smiled “Peter, get the plates!”and he grabbed the pan from Steve’s hands.

A little bit of banging and clanging from the kitchen and Peter called “Come have some breakfast, Steve!”

He awkwardly sat down at the table, staring off into space.

“You want one?” Peter asked, holding out two spoons and a fork. “You can only get one because the rest are all dirty.”

Steve reluctantly grabbed one of the spoons and made a mental note to start cleaning the house to earn his keep. Peter beamed at his plate with the fork in his hand “I can’t remember the last time we had a real breakfast!” and he dug in, slurping and chewing like a wild jungle animal.

Tony finished his food fairly quickly, most likely because there wasn’t much on his plate to begin with. “Jarvis, move the castle 60 miles to the west.” And he shut the door at the end of the hallway behind him.

“Where’d he go?” Steve asked.

Peter wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve that was already covered with egg yolk and grease “He goes in there all the time. I’m not exactly sure what’s in there. He’s been in there days at a time before.”

Steve stared back at the door down the hall, curious. Peter leaned in on his elbow, giving him suspicious squinting eyes “You’re not working for the Wizard of the Waste are you?”

“I’d never work for him, he’s the one who—” Steve’s lips abruptly sealed shut, no matter how hard he fought it. He slammed his fists on the table out of frustration, anger, and loss of all the patience he had been holding on to for dear life “If I ever get my hands on him, I’ll ring his neck!”


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Steve was hard at work trying to get the house clean. He wasn’t a professional, but he kept his own place decently intact, and the Stark house looked much better than it did before. There wasn’t even any dust to bother his new lungs anymore. Dragging out the trash, he noticed Tony coming down the stairs, cleaned up, shaven, in a nice grey suit carrying that same red and gold suitcase.

“I’ll be back.” he said “Don’t get too carried away while I’m gone.” He winked at Steve and shut the front door behind him. The little color dial on the wall switching to black.

Steve started, red-faced, up the stairs, Peter slipping underneath his arm and blocking the way “No! You can’t come up here!”

Steve smiled at him “Whatever you don’t want me to clean you’d better hide it now.”

Peter frantically ran up the stairs “Save my room for last, okay?!”

Steve laughed and made his way to the bathroom, which was in just as much, if not more disarray as the rest of the house that Steve hadn’t cleaned yet. He groaned and felt that kink in his neck coming back. He opened the window to let some ventilation in and noticed the castle climbing up a huge grassy hill surrounded by summits of ice and rock. The wind blowing was crisp and cool and it smelled like pine needles. “This is incredible!” Steve awed “Jarvis are you the one moving the castle?”

“Of course I am!” Jarvis shouted from downstairs.

“I’m thoroughly impressed. You’re a first class fire demon and I like your spark!” Steve flattered

If a flame could blush, Jarvis found a way to do it “He likes my spark!”

Steve made his way to the upstairs balcony, passing by Peter’s bedroom where he shut the door in a panic “Not ready! Not ready!”

Buffalo and deer ran across the plains next to an enormous lake that could’ve gone on forever. Peter jumped up on the railing next to Steve and breathed in the fresh air “It’s called Star Lake. We like to come by here a lot.” The two simultaneously noticed a long stick jetting out of a crevice in the castle. “Oh, man. Give me a hand, Peter.” Steve started pulling the stick up and they both found a familiar suited scarecrow.

“A scarecrow?”

“Yeah, I’ve been calling him Turnip-Head. Somehow he always manages to get stuck upside down. He keeps following me everywhere. Must’ve taken a liking to me, I guess.”

The castle settled to the ground at the bed of the lake just as Steve and Peter carried out a basket of laundry. Turnip-Head pulled the clothes line across the grass, while Peter was trying to keep up on the other end “Quit pulling so hard, Turnip-Head!”

Steve and Peter sat down at a table they set near the lake and had lunch while Turnip-Head the rest of the other clothes lines in place “I think he likes doing the laundry.” Peter said, picking up his sandwich. “Jarvis doesn’t seem to mind him, so maybe he’s some kind of demon.”

Steve stared out to the lake and smiled softly in spite of himself “Maybe…but he lead me here so I guess he’s the good kind…”

That night a beat up and tired Iron suit dragged itself up the stairs and plopped into the wooden chair in front of the fireplace. Tony flipped up his faceplate and the suit fell off of his body piece by piece.

“You look terrible, Mr. Stark.”

Tony weakly pulled down the collar of his shirt and stared at a glowing circular machine in his chest and the black veins jetting out from it and stretching across his body. “This war is terrible. They’ve bombed from the southern coast to the northern border. It’s all in flames now.” “I knew it was only a matter of time before they started dropping bombs on civilians.” Jarvis reached out and grabbed a piece of wood only inches away “Isn’t this great? Steve put these here for me.”

Tony looked over at the curtains hiding where Steve slept. He pulled them back and saw him lying there, breath easy instead of forced like it had been since he got there, bigger and much healthier looking; Tony assumed his curse lifted temporarily while he slept.

The next morning decided to take Peter with him to the market since all they had in the castle after a few days was bread, cheese, and onions. “I don’t know why we’re doing this; Master Stark hardly eats anything.” Peter said as he carried the shopping basket over his head.

“Exactly, which is why we have to get something into his system other than coffee and booze.” Steve retorted as he placed things like potatoes and fish into the basket. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stand up when he caught a glimpse of a black blobby figure in a showy suit out of the corner of his eye. “The Wizard’s henchmen are here.” he whispered. Peter hid behind Steve’s leg and snuck a peek “How come no one else noticed him?”

Suddenly an enemy airship flew overhead and dropped a couple of bombs into the harbor and floated propaganda posters across the town. “Run, Peter!” Steve grabbed the boy’s hand and took off up the alleyway stairs and back to the house. Peter shut and locked the door, out of breath “You want some water, Steve?”

“Yeah…thanks” Steve panted.

Suddenly a yell from down the hall and the door next to Tony’s secret room flung open “Steve! What happened to all the material I had?!”

It took a few seconds for him to answer because, well, he had never seen Tony with just a t-shirt and jeans before. He had this really cool shirt on that had a light built into it. “…You mean the scrap metal?”

“It wasn’t scrap! I was using it for—nothing. But I specifically asked you not to get carried away!”

“I just organized things, Tony, nothing’s ruined.”

“Wrong! Very Wrong!” and turned around, frustratedly rubbing his eyes and ready to storm into his secret room and lock the door.

It’s a good thing, too. Because if he had seen Steve’s face, it was like he just kicked the hell out of a puppy. “I’ve had enough of this place.” Steve finally said, and without looking back, he left.

It was raining outside, but he didn’t notice until he wasn’t getting wet. He looked up and Turnip-Head was holding an umbrella over him. “Thank you, Turnip-Head. How is it that you got to be so kind?”

All of a sudden he felt a tug on his arm. It was Peter “Steve you have to come inside! Master Stark is in trouble!”

They found Tony lying on the floor gasping for breath; his face was red and sweaty.

“Tony! Tony what’s wrong?!” he ripped open Tony’s shirt and realized the light wasn’t in his shirt, but in his chest. Black vein-like lines went from the light to his shoulders, neck, stomach, and ribs. He put his hand over the light and it burned him on contact.

“He’s going into cardiac arrest!” Jarvis shouted

“What?!” Steve whipped around.

“Hurry, Steve, you have to go get another one of those arc reactors from his lab! That room at the end of the hall!”

Steve hurried down the hall and jiggled the locked handle. He panicked, looked at his hands, tightened his fists, and rammed his shoulder into the door, breaking it open with surprising ease. The first thing he noticed was a glass case with another light inside of it. He threw it on the ground; the glass shattered and he picked up the reactor, rushing it to Tony’s side. “Tony! Tony!”

“You have to pull that one out! But put the new one in quick, because that’s what keeps him alive.”

“What?!” Steve pulled at his hair, then took a deep breath and calmed down, especially after looking over his shoulder and seeing how frightened Peter was. He gripped the sides of the reactor and it slid out with wires and a few other things Steve didn’t know what they were covered in some kind of black sludge. Tony jerked a little, which scared Steve to death and he hurried to put the new reactor in. A cleaner glow came from his chest and Tony’s body began to relax a bit

“Is he going to be okay?”

“He should be fine, Steve, but I would let him rest for a little while.” Jarvis answered.

Steve huffed a tired breath and picked Tony up (actually lifted him up, which was a surprise) in his arms to carry him upstairs, a worried Peter trailing behind.

Tony woke up in his own bed with the warmth from the sun soft on his cheek. He groaned softly and groggily turned his head on his pillow and saw Steve let out a sigh of relief “You gave us quite a scare.” he said. “Jarvis told me that this has been going on for a while.”

“The more I use the suit…the higher my blood toxicity rises. Every now and again I need a new reactor, but the one you gave me was the only completed one I have for now; it was meant for emergencies.”

“I think you almost dying counts as an emergency.” Steve reprimanded slightly above a whisper.

Tony was silent (for once) and stared up at the ceiling “…The Wizard of the Waste is trying to find my castle.”

“I saw one of his henchmen at the harbor.”

“I’m such a big coward; all I ever do is hide away from everyone.”

“Tony, why does he want to find you so badly?”

Tony placed a hand over the sleek metal in his chest “The arc reactor. It’s pure energy. All of that power in one tiny compartment; who wouldn’t want it?”

“Do you use it for anything other than for a heart?”

“Just to power my suit, and the castle; Jarvis has a little bit of arc reactor energy in him.”

“The suit? You mean the red and gold one you fly around in? I thought you used magic for that.”

Tony bit his lip and looked out the window “The truth is, I’m not a wizard. That’s just a rumor that floated around that I purposely never denied. I built that suit out of scrap metal, arc reactor energy and a few car parts. The only thing magical about me is Jarvis and the wizard on my trail.”

“But you built that suit. That in itself is pretty amazing.”

Tony’s soft smile was short-lived “I can’t run forever; I have to report to the palace for the king.”

“Why not just refuse the invitation?”

“That’s the price I pay for my freedom. I have to go the palace whenever summoned.”

Steve thought for a moment, and you could almost see that imaginary lightbulb above his head “You should go see the king, Tony. Give him a piece of your mind! Tell him this war is pointless and you refuse to take part.”

Tony shook his head “You obviously don’t know what these people are really like.”

“But he’s our king; he should want to know how his citizens feel, right?”

Tony suddenly burst out of his sheets and closed in inches from Steve’s face “I’ve got it!” Steve could feel heat rising in his cheeks, but come on. Anyone would get just a little red from someone being that close, right? “Why don’t you go to the palace for me?”

“…Huh?”

“Just say that you’re Iron Man’s brother, and your brother is such a coward he’s too afraid to show is face. Maybe then Madam Romanov will finally give up on me!”

“…Who’s Madam Romanov?”


	4. Chapter 4

Around noon, Steve was pulling on his jacket, a little irritated that he had to run this silly errand “Take care of the house while I’m gone, Peter.”

He was reaching for the door when he felt cold metal drape around his neck. Steve looked down to see one of those glow things from Tony’s chest on a thin chain hanging and resting on his chest. 

“This will guarantee your safe return.” Tony breathed on Steve’s neck. The blonde turned to see him inches from his face “Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you.”

Steve gently ran his fingers across the reactor at the end of the chain and sighed “Why do I get the feeling that this is not going to work?”

Walking through the streets of the city, Steve looked around to see where it was that Tony could possibly be following him from. He saw a car pass him, but noticed it wasn’t Tony driving it. He saw a plane, but it flew right over him. Then he noticed a man taking a giddy woman for a ride on one of those new two-seated flying contraptions “That could be him.” Steve sort of scoffed.

The castle was a bit of a walk, but Steve managed to make it there before his new-found asthma started acting up.

“Look who’s here. The tacky little boy from the suit shop.” a voice belittled next to him.

If Steve didn’t have enough problems. “The Wizard of the Waste.” What was he doing here?

“How’s Tony by the way?”

“He’s a huge pain in my ass.”

“How delightful.” Stane chuckled. 

“So what are you doing here?”

Stane squinted his eyes and plastered on a smile that, if Steve wasn’t skin and bones right now, would be knocked right off his face “I got a royal invitation. Romanoff finally came to her senses and realized how much she needs me.”

“If you’re so great, why don’t you break the spell you put on me?” Steve sneered.

“Sorry, my talent lies in casting spells, not breaking them. By the way, I recommend eating a sandwich when you get home. You really need one.” 

Any other person would have reached through the cabin window and strangled him, but Steve had more self-control than that. And was satisfied with watching his palanquin bearers (conjured with magic apparently) melt to the ground just before they reached the gate.

“I’m sorry, sir!” one of the guards called “Vehicles are prohibited beyond this point! You must continue on foot!”

“Damn that Romanoff,” Stane grumbled, talking one more puff of his cigar before stepping out “making me climb all of those god-forsaken stairs.”

Once Steve was about half-way up the steps, he felt like someone had a clenched hand around both of his lungs. He sunk down to one knee, huffing and gasping for breath “Come on, I can do this.” He turned and saw that Stane was a few stairs behind him, having about as much trouble. “Come on! Are you a wizard or aren’t you?”

“Just shut up!” the wizard bit out.

“Yeah oxygen’s a bit different from the crap you’re normally breathing in.” Steve glared when they made it inside.

Stane was a little too out of sorts to return the snark with a come-back.

“Pull yourself together and let’s go.” Steve said with pursed lips. 

The guards that lined the walls of the greeting room guided them into an empty room. Stane pushed Steve aside to get to the only chair that sat in the dead center of the room and sank down into it, breathing heavily and sweating like a pig. A young boy approached Steve, gesturing toward a door saying “This way please, sir.” The door led to, what looked like a giant greenhouse. The windows and roof where made of glass and the only space that didn’t have a jungle of plants had two chairs facing each other with a good ten feet between them. Sitting in the one on the left was a beautiful jade-eyed woman in a black and white dress with curly red hair.

“So, you’re Iron Man’s brother, are you?” her voice was smooth, but Steve couldn’t help but notice it made him a little edgy. 

“Yes ma’am.”

“You must be tired.” she smiled “Please have a seat.”

Steve nodded with a polite “Thank-you.” and took his spot in the chair opposite her. She sat with her petite legs crossed and her hands in her lap, a small smile on her full red lips. “My name is Natasha Romanoff, I’m the king’s head sorceress.” Under the table next to her was a small one-eyed bulldog with a dark brown coat and a black eyepatch. 

“I take it Mr. Stark isn’t coming?” Natasha asked after a brief pause.

Steve let out a nervous breath that he hoped sounded like a laugh “He’s such a lazy guy, so he sent me instead. I’m afraid the king would find him completely useless.”

Natasha leaned her fair cheek into her hand “Such a shame; he had such promise. Well, at least he did until he had his heart stolen. Soon he began using his intelligence and talent for completely selfish purposes. He’s reckless and arrogant, which makes him dangerous. His kinds of capabilities are far too great for someone without a heart. If he stays on this path, I’m afraid he’ll end up just like the Wizard of the Waste. Send him in!”

The boy that escorted Steve in returned with an old wrinkly man in a wheelchair.

“What happened to him?!” Steve jumped back.

“I returned him to the age he actually is. All of his powers are gone now. He too was once a magnificent sorcerer with so much potential. But then he fell prey to a demon of greed who slowly consumed him, body and soul.” Natasha’s smile disappeared and her gorgeous face was stern “I’m giving Stark one more chance. If he can prove to me that he can change from being the disreputable man he is now, then I’ll help him break from the demon that stole his heart. If not, he’ll end up just like him.”

“That’s enough!” Steve shouted. “No wonder Tony was unsure about coming here! You lure people with an invitation from the king, and then strip them of their powers? Tony would never do anything like that! Yes, I understand Tony is selfish, and childish, and sometimes he’s not very easy to understand, the guy’s a complete train-wreck, he’s drunk half of the time and the other half he’s hopped up on caffeine—” Steve had to stop himself, and re-track his train of thought. Plus, for some reason, he had enough strength to continue. “But he’s a good person. He would never do anything to intentionally hurt someone else. He’s not dangerous! And he definitely doesn’t need your help with his heart. He can fix his problem with his demon on his own!”

Steve didn’t realize how much more he felt like his old self before Natasha gave a knowing and charming smirk “Now I see, you’re in love with Stark.”

The sudden strength left him and he was once again breathing heavier than normal. “It seems that his physical ailment isn’t his only weakness.” Natasha smiled.

The sudden whir of electric guitar and drums assaulted the air and one of those two-seated flying machines Steve saw earlier landed in the grass outside of the glass room. 

“Looks like you haven’t lost your usual flair, Stark.”

“You don’t think I’m trying to upstage you or anything.” Tony smirked, wrapping an arm around Steve. “I kept my word and came when asked. Now my brother and I will be leaving.”

Natasha looked at the two of them, as if weighing her options. For whatever reason, Steve had no problem believing that she could take at least one of them down just with her bare hands. Steve turns to notice that she stays seated and allows (yes allows) them to leave.

Tony takes Steve by the arm and plants him in the driver’s seat “Sit here. Did you have to bring those to with you?” 

Steve whipped his head around and saw Stane sitting in the back passenger seat with an oblivious smile on his face holding the one-eyed dog. “I guess it’s too late to toss them.” he shrugged. 

“Steve! Take the wheel!”

“What? I’ve never flown in my life!”

“You can do it; besides, they’re gaining on us.” Tony looked back to check on the whole damn fleet that was coming after them. Apparently Natasha didn’t feel like getting her own hands dirty. 

Steve’s brow furrowed “Hey, wait a minute! Why did you have me come if you were just going to show up anyway!” 

“Knowing you were coming gave me the strength to show up. I can’t face her by myself; that woman terrifies me! You saved me, Steve. I was in big trouble back there.”

Steve’s twisted mouth loosened at the sentiment; he couldn’t stay angry, especially with Tony giving that charming smile of his. “I can distract them; you have to fly this back to the Waste.”

“I don’t know the way!” Steve protested.

“The reactor I gave you, it’ll show you the direction back home.” And as if on command, the charm around Steve’s neck began to glow brightly, pointing like a miniature lighthouse straight ahead. 

“Wait, what’re you going to d—” Steve was interrupted by Tony pulling out his red and gold case and yanking at the handle. What looked like a metal monster began to wrap itself around Tony’s body limb by limb, clanking and whirring, working its way up to his neck and finally pulling a helmet over his head. The red and gold armor was shiny and looked new, unlike the scratched up, dull suit he had seen before. Tony gave haphazard salute and projected himself forward with white and blue fire from his hands and feet before Steve could stop him.


	5. Chapter 5

“We’re almost there!” Steve called out through the pelting rain “That’s my hometown below us!”

The lights from the town shown over the bases of surrounding mountains and hills, making it easier to see the roaming castle in front of them.

“Steve! Over here!” Peter called from the balcony. The castle was moving to come and meet them

“Peter help! How do I stop this thing?!” Steve called out too late, smashing the copter into the face of the castle.

He stumbled out on unsteady feet, debris and broken stone pieces sprinkling onto the floor and in his hair. Steve met with Peter in a tight embrace, cradling the boy’s head in his hand “Steve! I missed you!”

“I missed you, too, Peter.”

“What are they doing here?” Peter clutched to Steve’s shirt, eyeing suspiciously at Obidiah and the one-eyed dog.

“They’re fine, don’t you worry.” Steve reassuringly ruffled Peter's chestnut hair.

Jarvis heated yet another chilly night strolling through The Waste; Peter decided he would curl up with Steve on his mattress on the floor for the night, which Steve didn’t mind at all, while Obie and Fury took the couch.

Steve stirred awake from his light sleep to notice the front door unlocked and oily foot prints leading across the room and up the stairs. He was careful not to wake Peter as he slipped his shoes (which he didn’t even notice magically fit perfect again, along with the rest of his clothes) on his feet and grabbed the lantern on the table. 

Slimey black liquid remained coated on the floor in boot patterns, which suddenly changed to bare feet, as Steve continued down the hallway to Tony’s bedroom. The door was halfway open so Steve felt no guilt in peeking inside where he saw a dark figure hunched over the side of the bed.

“Tony?” he shone the light further to illuminate the room, moving swiftly to his side “Are you in pain? Tell me what’s happening.” Steve didn’t even try to hide the bubbling concern in his voice. 

“It’s too late…” Tony’s voice sounded groggy and strained. And when brown eyes met blue, Steve caught sight of the black vains tracing up his bare chest, neck, and webbing across his face. A sick, dark green tear ran down Tony’s cheek and his eyelids began to flutter shut “Too late…” he repeated, the barely visible glow of the arc reactor dissipating completely.

“Wait…” Steve whispered as Tony fell limp in his arms “Tony no!”

The faucets from upstairs rocket steaming water into Tony’s bathtub, pretty much shaking Steve awake. He shot up from his mattress; it was just a dream. Steve was still skinny and sickly. More importantly, Tony was still alive. For now. “Jarvis, did Tony just get in?”

“Yes and he looks terrible!” the flame answered painfully honestly “Mr. Stark is running out of time, I hope you realize.” Steve perceived the glare from the fire and noted he must be worried, too. “Madam Romanoff said something about Tony’s heart being stolen by a demon, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“I’m sorry, that information is classified. You should know first-hand the difficulty of talking about your curse.”

That morning, when the sun came up and warmed the dew-covered grass, Turniphead and Peter were helping hold the castle entrance open while Steve pushed out the crashed copter. The damn thing didn’t budge until Steve gave it a good kick and it started up again in a spasm, chasing poor Peter behind a boulder, scaring him half to death and crash-landing.

Steve gave Peter a few hours to play outside with Fury before calling them in for bowls of potato soup for lunch. Light footsteps down the stairs caught their attention

“Mr. Stark, we can keep this dog, can’t we?” Peter asked with big glistening brown eyes. Steve was happy to see him back to his old strutting self, looking much healthier and happier than he did last night. Steve realized then, that it _had_ been a nightmare. And hopefully it would stay that way.

“The Wizard of the Waste and Romanoff’s dog at my table?” Tony looked around with a surprising smile. “What possessed you to let them in my house, Jarvis?”

“I didn’t let them in!” Jarvis defended “Steve crash-landed his plane into my face!”

Tony let out a full-body, hearty laugh, giving Steve a playful slap on the shoulder (which, surprisingly, didn't hurt as much as it would have. Maybe he was just getting used to it.) “I knew he’d make a good pilot!”

Tony made sure to explain to everyone that Madam Romanof was hot on their trail, although he didn't seem to be too concerned with her at the moment.

**Author's Note:**

> A Domestic Avengers/Howl's Moving Castle AU  
> And yes, I did not make Loki the wizard. I don't want him to be brain-dead later in the story and Obie was a dick, so I don't feel guilty.


End file.
